Doctors who aid in executions unlikely to face sanctions

No U.S. medical board has disciplined a doctor for taking part in an execution, and that is unlikely to change, according to a new legal study.

The study, published in January in the Federation of State Medical Boards’ Journal of Medical Licensure and Discipline, is believed to be the first to comprehensively review all state laws and regulations on doctors, medical boards and executions. The study found that only seven death-penalty states incorporate the American Medical Association’s ethics code, which, among other things, bars physician participation in executions.

Nearly all capital punishment states specifically call for doctors to be involved in some way, the study said.